Essays on transforming security and development in an unequal world

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Abstract

These two papers add further dimensions to the discussions in IDS Bulletin 40.2
(March 2009) on ‘Transforming Security and Development in an Unequal World’
edited by Robin Luckham, Niagalé Bagayoko, Lucia Dammert, Claudio Fuentes
and Michael Solis. Like the contributions to the latter, they were first discussed at
the founding Colloquium of the Global Consortium for Security Transformation
held at Kandalama, Sri Lanka in September 2007.
Niagalé Bagayoko’s paper on ‘State, Non-State and Multilateral Logics of Action in
Post-Conflict Environments’ considers the complexities of Northern policymaking
and their impacts in post-conflict countries. It thus differs from but complements
IDS Bulletin 40.2, which focuses mostly on security and development from a
Southern perspective.
She argues that a number of different policy logics are at work in the security,
development, humanitarian and media etc domains, which are sometimes
coordinated – but often in tension with – each other. Her approach thus differs
from that of certain critical voices in the NGO and academic worlds, which hold
that there is a danger that Northern security priorities might ‘securitise’ the
humanitarian and development agendas, particularly in post-conflict environments.
While these dangers are real, nevertheless one should not stereotype all
international actors as ‘Northern’ or as promoting Northern security (e.g. anti-terrorist)
agendas. It is instead more fruitful to view such actors as diverse players
with conflicting interests that operate according to different policy logics.
Lyndsay McLean Hilker’s paper on ‘Why Identity Politics Matters for Security and
What Follows for Research and Policy’ spells out a general framework for analysis
of identity-based violent conflict, drawing upon empirical examples, including
Rwanda, where she has focused her own research. It is unique in its focus on the
implications of analysis and research on identity politics for development policy.
She contends that identity politics matter both to the persistence of insecurity and
to the achievement of greater security. Evidence from multiple contexts demonstrates that identity provides an effective basis for group mobilisation into
collective action – both violent and non-violent in nature. If we are to work to
combat insecurity at the local as well as the global level, we need to look in more
depth at the processes leading to violence in the name of identity in specific
contexts, and explore the types of interventions that can prevent and respond to
such violence. It is especially important to understand under what circumstances
identity politics can be exercised in ways that are inclusive and empowering rather
than exclusionary or violent.
Keywords: security; conflict; ethnicity; identities; post-conflict reconstruction;
humanitarianism; peace-building.